(Don't) Fear The Reaper
by Soul's Release
Summary: After a mission to Mountain Glenn goes bad, Ruby starts acting...wrong. When a string of violent attacks occur, people start wondering if Beacon's youngest has gone insane. But the truth is much, much worse. (Rated M for violence, death, and some harsh language.)
1. The Game Was Rigged From The Start

**Warning: This story takes place OUTSIDE of RWBY Canon. Also contains scenes of explicit violence and some mild torture. Just as a warning: If you don't like those sorts of things, then this probably won't be for you. For a rough estimate of time, this takes place in an AU where the Fall of Beacon didn't succeed. Beacon academy still stands, and Team RWBY is in their second year.**

**Disclaimer: RWBY was created by Monty Oum and is owned by Rooster Teeth. The only thing I will claim ownership is the idea of the Grimm type introduced in this. **

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"Sooo... we're here to help clear out a White Fang base, right..?"

Second year Huntress in training, Ruby Rose, kicked her feet as she rode with the rest of her team in a Bullhead, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared out the window of the aircraft. The four of them had been given special permission by Headmaster Ozpin to aid the Vale authorities in something that had been a bit of a problem for the last couple of weeks. Shipments of SDC grade Dust, crystals and powder, had been being stolen by groups of White Fang members, as well as several incidents of vandalism. Ozpin picked Ruby's team due to 'their previously displayed ability to sniff out White Fang activity.' At least, that's what the Headmaster had said when Weiss had brought up her concerns for the assignment.

"That's what Ozpin said. The police had a few tracking beacons placed on the last shipment of Dust that was stolen, and they traced the shipment to a warehouse outside of Mountain Glenn," Weiss explained as she loaded Myrtenaster's Dust cylinder with a tube of gravity Dust.

Yang lifted her head up from her scroll, having been playing video games for most of the ride, and arched an eyebrow as she stared at Ruby, then Blake and Weiss.

"Am I the only one who is really starting to hate that place? I mean, first there was the whole thing with Torchwick and the train, then we ended up chasing that crazy Dr. Merlot to that island... And now the White Fang are holed up there, AGAIN?" She paused and pocketed her scroll. "I swear, that town is a bad guy magnet."

"It does seem to be a place that criminals like to use in one way or another." Blake commented as she poked her nose up from her book.

"Hey, I'm not complaining. If people want to keep hiding out there, then I say go ahead! Makes our job easier, right?" Ruby asked as the Bullhead started slowing down to begin it's descent.

"...Right." Weiss just pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head before straightening out her skirt. "Let's just get this over with, I don't want to be doing this when it gets dark out; the less Grimm we need to deal with, the better."

The four of them nodded in agreement as the Bullhead touched down on the outskirts of the abandoned city, and as the door slid open, Ruby was the first one out of the aircraft as she bolted in a blur of rose petals, making a beeline for the nearest tree as she transformed Crescent Rose into it's sniper rifle configuration and surveyed the area.

"RUBY! Slow down, wait for us, you dolt!" Weiss yelled as she ran after her partner. "Ugh, you're going to get into trouble one of these days, running ahead like that..."

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**~Meanwhile~**

"Is it ready Doctor..? I have little time for games, and you promised me results."

The red, cybernetic eye of Dr. Merlot shrunk to the size of a tack as he narrowed his eyes and spun on his heel to face the man he'd been in contact with the past several weeks, Dr. Arthur Watts. Merlot crossed his arms behind his back as he stared at Watts for several seconds before his expression softened somewhat; instead taking on a casual tone, as if he were playing a game.

"Yes Arthur, it's ready." The older of the two turned for a moment as he picked up a nearby scroll from the top of a nearby medical cabinet then thumbed a couple of keys as a large incubation tube slid out of a wall and spun around to show the ominous green fluid that was held within. "Despite the setback those... infernal children caused, I have been able to replicate my serum and fuse it with the DNA of the Grimm you sent me."

Watts folded his arms behind his back as he walked towards the tube, leaning towards the glass as he watched several bubbles rise from the bottom, his eyes narrowing after a few moments as he let out a frustrated grumble.

"Is this some sort of a joke, Merlot? This tube contains nothing except for-"

Watts was cut off as a large black, six-fingered hand slammed against the glass from the inside, the wrist and arm that was connected to it looking vaguely like the bones of a human forearm, sans the myriad of white shards that seemed to protrude from the top of the wrist. Watts instinctively jumped back a couple of feet and yelled in surprise as his hand shot to his chest.

"What's the matter, Watts? A bit jumpy are we?" Merlot asked with a chuckle.

Watts was silent as he lowered his hand, straightening his coat, then fixed his tie as he looked to Merlot. "I'm fine; just get on with it..."

Merlot nodded his head and smirked as he pulled up a series of files on the scroll he was holding, then handed it to the other man. "I call it 'The Emulator.' I based it off of the specifications that you described when you first came to me about the project, and I must say... It surpassed even **my** expectations."

Watts skimmed through the data, more wanting to see the creature in action than anything else, then handed the scroll back with a sigh. "Yes, yes, this is all very fascinating and all, but will it do what it was made for? As I said before, I do not have time for games and my... employer would be severely displeased if all of this work was for nothing."

Merlot smirked as he reached a hand out and yanked a few hairs from Watts' mustache, causing him to yelp and rub at his face. Merlot was silent as he placed the hairs into a small tray at the bottom of the tube, then watched them as they were sucked into the machine by an internal vacuum. The hand on the glass moved away for several seconds as a low growl came from inside the tube, and the sound of breaking bones and a loud inhuman howl came from the creature within as Merlot then pressed a couple of buttons on the scroll that controlled the machinery. Within seconds the mutagenic liquid started to drain out the bottom, and Watts was finally able to see the Grimm experiment in it's _somewhat_ true form.

"Dear lord, Merlot... When you said that you followed the requested specifications..." Watts paused and took a moment to collect himself as he stared at what looked to be a carbon copy of himself; every detail copied and replicated down the the amount of hair on the copy's head. "I never thought it would be able to change so rapidly."

The Watts copy stared back at the two men outside the tube and narrowed it's eyes as it studied them, focusing on the real Watts for several seconds as it analyzed the man; the way he held himself, his mannerisms, even the way he spoke. Almost like it was learning from the man, it was utterly still as it stared, and only blinked its bright, red glowing eyes as it listened to the conversation.

Merlot nodded as he typed a few things into a nearby computer, shrugging his shoulders as he knew that his creation was no doubt already learning from the two of them. "Yes, well, after working on this project for a little over six months Watts, what did you think I was doing. You wanted results, and I produced them, I would be insulted to think that you thought I was merely playing with petri dishes and test tubes." Merlot stood up straight and glanced at the tube; the Emulator now standing straight up with its arms folded over its chest in the same way that Watts was. "Anyways, the specimen is capable of replicating an individual's DNA down to every single hair that person has, and given time can also replicate speech patterns. Though, it takes a few days after changing it's appearance to fully develop the vocal patterns. In any case, it can easily blend in and hide amongst the general population..."

"General population..? What do you mean?"

Merlot let out an aggravated sigh as he rapped his knuckles on the tube's exterior, causing the Emulator to narrow it's eyes as it growled. "No matter how many times I tried, I have been unable to get it to generate an Aura similar to a Human or Faunus. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that it is still, in fact, Grimm in nature. However, it shouldn't be a problem, as it is still able to hide very easily."

Watts was quiet as he listened to the explanation, then stood in front of the tube, raising his hand as he stroked his mustache for a few moments in silence. His eyes stared into the glowing red of the Emulator's and after a moment he couldn't help but smile, an action that the Emulator mirrored as Watts turned around.

"How long would it take to replicate this... thing?"

"I'm sorry... what?"

Watts frowned and rolled his eyes for a moment. "You heard me, Doctor. How long, given the required resources, would it take for you to make more of these 'Emulators?'"

"Oh... not very long. Now that I have my serum again, I could easily do it again in a couple of weeks."

"Excellent, I'll see to it personally that you get what you need." Watts looked back at the Emulator and hummed a bit as he folded his arms behind his back. "As for this one, I believe we have some guests coming to deal with some members of the 'White Fang'... See to it that they are properly disposed of, I'm sure that your new pet can easily handle the four of them."

Merlot smiled and let out a dark chuckle as he pressed a few switches and sent the Emulator after the Huntresses that were coming. "I've been waiting for this day for a while now... It'll be good to see those brats get what's coming to them."

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**~Back With Team RWBY~**

"Well... we've been in this warehouse for almost an hour and a half... and I still have yet to see any signs of the White Fang." Yang grumbled as she punched her fist into the side of an empty SDC shipping container. "Are we sure that they're even here?"

Ruby crossed her arms over her chest as she stopped and turned around to face her sister, an annoyed look on her face. "Quit hitting things Yang!" She yelled in a hushed voice. "They're probably hiding from us. And you going around punching things isn't helping, so cut it out. We'll find them, we just need to keep looking."

The two of them spun around when they heard Blake and Weiss approaching them, and Ruby raised an eyebrow curiously as she tapped her foot on the metal floor of the building. "Did you guys find anything?"

The monochromatic pair both shook their heads, to which Yang responded by letting out a long, frustrated groan. "This is ridiculous! There's nothing here; they must have found out we were coming somehow and booked it."

"The only thing we kept finding was more empty shipping containers, the same it's been in the entire complex. I agree with Yang; this has just been a waste of time." Weiss concurred. "As much as I hate to suggest it, we should just get back to Beacon. There's no sense staying here if we don't have to, especially with the Grimm roaming the city."

Ruby just stared at her teammates for several seconds, not sure what to say at first, but after a while she rolled her eyes and dropped her arms to her sides. "Yeah... I guess. Dang it, I was really hoping that we'd get better results than this." She pulled Crescent Rose from the holster on her back and switched it to its rifle form, then motioned for everyone else to go ahead of her. "Come on... let's go."

The four of them started towards the exit, a large roll-up style door that locked from the inside, none of them really saying anything, as they were all a little disheartened from the results of their search. Blake and Yang were out first, with Weiss following closely while Ruby stopped one more time to look back into the large main room of the warehouse. She let out a small sigh and rested Crescent Rose on her shoulder, only to freeze up when she heard a low chittering sound from the building.

"What was that...?"

Weiss turned to look back at Ruby and scowled at her partner. "What was what? Ruby... come on, let's get out of here; it was probably just an animal."

Ruby waved her hand behind her and shook her head quickly. "Shh! I heard something... just give me a second."

Weiss rolled her eyes and yelled at Blake and Yang, telling them to wait, then drew her rapier just in case any Grimm came by. "Ruby, hurry up. This is just stupid."

The leader of Team RWBY nodded silently as she raised Crescent Rose and started back deeper into the building. "Where are you... I know I heard something in here..."

As she passed the same SDC container that Yang had punched, there was a short hiss as a black and white blur whizzed behind the Huntress, a hand shooting out with a set of razor sharp claws scraping the side of her arm. Completely surprised by the quick strike to her arm, Ruby yelped in surprise and grabbed her arm, her eyes widened in surprise. 

"Gah... what was that?" She shouted as she spun around to look for her attacker. 

Nothing... all she could see was the wide open door, with a slightly confused Weiss standing just beyond. Pulling her hand away from her arm, she saw that whatever had hit her, had managed to scratch her with three claws, each one being about an inch apart. She covered her arm again for a couple of seconds before she swept her gaze around her immediate surroundings, Crescent Rose aiming at whatever she was looking at. 

She froze cold when a loud distorted and guttural scream echoed through the warehouse, followed quickly by an explosion. Looking up, she saw the roof of the building cracking rapidly as small pieces of brick and mortar started falling onto the ground.

Shaking her head frantically, she tapped into her Semblance and started towards the door, a desperate look on her face as she focused on Weiss and the others who were at the entrance calling for her to run, but after a few seconds she rammed into a figure that fell from above her, a crooked and sickeningly inhuman grin on its face as it reached a hand out to grab Ruby by her neck.

"**Tiiime's ... uuuup..."**

Ruby's eyes squeezed shut as she squirmed in the thing's grasp, and she reached a hand out to hit it in the face, an action that was caught with ease and she swallowed a lump in her throat as more of the ceiling fell around them. The thing stared her in the eyes for a moment before it squinted and flexed it's wrist, causing a loud crack to be heard as Ruby screamed in pain and as she stared defiantly at it, she went stiff as **it's **face changed to mirror hers. 

The last thing either of them heard was Yang's voice screaming the name of her sister as the entire building collapsed on them.


	2. Down, But Not Out

**Author's Note:** Well... I gotta say, I am impressed with how well the first chapter is doing. By the time I'm writing this, it's already gotten 4 reviews, 38 follows and 22 favorites. And that's only like... 5 days after I put it up. Gotta say I am really hoping it keeps up.

Anyways, a couple of things I wanted to address just in case some questions came up; nothing too revealing, as I want to keep the mystery aspect up. For one, I know that it was stated that The Emulator wouldn't be able to successfully form vocal patterns until a few days after taking on a form, then it was able to talk to Ruby... This is something that I did on purpose, the reason being something that will be brought up later. Two: I have NO IDEA how long this will end up being. I have a rough outline of what I have planned, and so far as long as everything goes smoothly, and God forbid I don't get writer's block, I want to try and be close to done by Halloween, but again... Nothing is set in stone at this point, so it could go longer, it might take less time; I can't say. Three: My brother suggested the idea of not actually revealing WHAT the Emulator actually looks like until the climax of the story, since it's something that a lot of creative outlets seem to do too early. So I decided to go with his idea and only reveal the forearm for now, instead having it look like other people until I'm ready.

With that all said and done, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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"What do you mean she's in a coma!?" Yang's eyes were blood red as her hands tightened into a pair of fists, the only thing keeping her from hitting the man in front of her being the fact that she was currently talking to Headmaster Ozpin.

"Miss Xiao Long... Yang, I understand you're upset; you have every right to be, but please control yourself." Ozpin's voice was calm as ever as he tried to talk some sense into Yang, lest she start actually breaking things or hurting people. "I meant what I said; your sister is in the hospital, but the very fact that she is alive is a miracle. Based upon what you and the other members of your team told me, she should be dead by all rights. Having that much concrete and metal falling on top of her is easily enough to have broken her spine, let alone kill her. You should be grateful that Miss Schnee was able to dig her out of the rubble as quick as she did, for I fear if she had been too slow, we would be having a much different conversation."

Yang was quiet for several moments as images of Ruby lying in the mess of twisted metal and broken concrete flashed in front of her, the reminder of seeing her younger sister broken and blood being enough to calm her down as she thought about how fast Weiss had used her glyphs to throw the pieces of debris around like simple stones. She sighed as she blinked a few times, her eyes returning to their lilac coloring again, then hung her head as she stared at the floor.

"How long until she wakes up..? Do you know?"

Ozpin pulled up a screen that the hospital in Vale had sent him regarding how Ruby was doing, then studied the information for the fifth time since he'd received it almost three hours ago. "Unfortunately your sister suffered considerable trauma. While I can tell you that she is in relatively good condition, her head had several pounds of force strike it. I was told she'd recover quickly, but there is a chance she may not remember very much about anything. According to a scan of her brain, something was damaged that may cause a serious case of amnesia, and I'm not sure if she should remain at Beacon if that turns out to be the case."

"She's not going anywhere. We can help take care of her and try and help her remember things; just don't send her home, please."

Ozpin was quiet for a few moments before he adjusted his glasses to sit on his nose better, then let out a long sigh as he closed his eyes. "Very well... Once she wakes up, and I have her cleared by the doctor, I'll arrange for her to be brought to the school. You and the rest of your team will no doubt need to keep a close eye on Ruby for a while, and try and see if you can convince her to trust her friends first, then the staff. She'll need the support."

Yang nodded quickly and straightened up in her sear as an eager smile grew on her face. "We can do that! Thank you so much Professor Ozpin, you won't regret this, I promise; Team RWBY will be back and ready to go before you know it." And before Ozpin could say anything else on the matter, Yang had ran out of his office to go tell Weiss and Blake what she'd learned.

"I should never have sent them there... This is all my fault."

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**~Merlot's Hideout~**

"Gods damn it Merlot! What is wrong with you? After all the time you spent working on that Emulator of yours, and you simply blow up the entire warehouse?!" Watts practically was seething, having watched as the warehouse that the Beacon Students had investigated collapsed after Merlot detonated a series of charges that had been placed around the building. The resulting mess had left the Emulator unconscious as well as the Leader of the team, and now the experiment that had been almost an entire six month's worth of progress had been 'rescued' by the other three teenagers.

"Watts, perhaps I need to remind you that it was you who told me to dispose of the girls? You never specified how, so I got a bit creative." Merlot's cybernetic eye narrowed as he stood up from the desk he'd been sitting at, and the older man waved his hand dismissively as he read a bit of data on his personal scroll. "Besides, I see this as an absolute win for us. After all, if those imbeciles took the Emulator back to Beacon, then this is the perfect opportunity to see how it will perform in a more crowded environment. Relax, I have full faith it will be fine."

Watts stared at the back of Merlot's head for several moments, glaring at him in silence before he tightened his hands into a pair of fists and growled under his breath; the usually composed Doctor having his patience tested yet again since the incident occurred almost a week ago. "You can't be serious... What the hell do you expect it to be able to do in the middle of a Huntsman training academy? It's not like it can just go on a killing spree and not get caught."

"I expect it to adapt, Watts. If it cannot, then I will need to adjust some things between this one and the next one I make. Either way, we will no doubt gain some valuable data that I can use in one way or another." Merlot simply stated as he looked up from his scroll and to a computer screen nearby that displayed a live-camera feed.

"Fine... I suppose you are right, I just don't want to have all of this have been for nothing." He relaxed and fixed his composure, adjusting his bowtie silently as his eyes also wandered to the screen. He took a few steps closer a frown on his face as he stared at the makeshift prison cell that was displayed and its lone occupant. "What about her... How is she?"

Merlot shrugged his shoulders as he watched, the girl in the camera feed sitting in the corner of the room with her legs pulled close to her chest as she rested her chin atop her knees. Her left hand was in a cast, as her wrist had been completely broken, bad enough that there had been a sliver of bone protruding from her skin, but Merlot had taken the liberty of repairing the damage. Her face was covered in cuts and bruises from when the building had collapsed on her, but other than that, she was a picture of health.

"Stubborn... Just like the last time I encountered her, maybe more so now. Physically, she is fine... The Emulator broke her wrist, but I took care of it, and she has a few bruises here and there, but she'll live. She won't eat though... Probably afraid that she'll be poisoned, and anytime one of my androids gets to close, she tries to destroy it." Merlot's voice was full of disdain, and he just stared at the screen for a while in silence.

"Does she know where she is..?"

"Hardly, the only thing she's figured out so far is that I'm here. She recognized the technology of my androids instantly and started yelling for me to come out of hiding and let her out. I just ignored her..." Merlot turned and looked at Watts with a scowl on his face. "I really despise that girl."

"You won't have to deal with her long. I will be returning to my employer soon to inform her of how things have progressed, and when I come back, I will take her off of your hands."

"And here I was excited to be able to experiment on someone with those legendary Silver Eyes..." Merlot complained.

"I have no qualms with that, as long as nothing too harmful is done. As it is, that broken wrist is going to displease my employer enough. I shudder to think what would happen if she were injured anymore."

"Very well... When do you leave?"

Watts checked his watch then folded his arms behind his back with a sigh. "Three days from now... For now, I am going to go get some rest, the last few days have been very stressful, and now that I have some semblance of good news, I want to catch up on some sleep." He started walking away, waving his hand next to his head as he left. "Do be nice to our guest, Merlot..."

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**~Simmons General Hospital, Vale~**

"Hey... are you doing okay? You've barely slept at all the last few days."

Weiss looked up from the styrofoam cup she had been holding in her hand, the coffee within it having cooled to room temperature hours ago. Blake was standing next to her with a book tucked under her arm as she stared at the heiress with a look of concern on her face. Weiss had practically spent the entire last week at the hospital waiting for Ruby to wake up, and had only slept an accumulative total of about twenty-five hours during that time; but despite all of that she looked fine, probably from the unhealthy amount of coffee she'd been drinking during the week.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you Blake. I'm just worried about her."

The raven-haired girl let out a quiet sigh before she sat down next to Weiss, folding her hands over her lap as she looked down to the cup of coffee that Weiss was holding. "How many is that today..?"

"Sixth one."

"Weiss, this is ridiculous. You're going to make yourself sick doing this. Why don't you come back to Beacon for a day, get some sleep and then come back tomorrow? Ruby would understand if you weren't here when she woke up, you know that."

Weiss shook her head and took a sip of the coffee, wincing a bit at the flavor. "No, I'm not going anywhere until I know she's okay. Besides, I told you already: I'm fine, just a little tired is all, nothing I can't handle."

The two sat there for several minutes in silence as they listened and watched the different doctors and hospital workers go about their work, neither of them really having anything to talk about. When it came down to it, Blake felt very much the same way about Ruby being in a coma, the only reason she wasn't acting the same way was because Yang had been an emotional wreck and Blake had been playing the role of the emotional support. Blake glanced over to Weiss, and frowned as she noticed that the heiress had started snoring; but she didn't dare say anything, instead just opening her book and picking up where she had left off.

She sat there for a while, letting Weiss sleep, until Yang came out of Ruby's room almost an hour later, a look of excitement on her face. "Guys! She's awake! Ruby's awake!"

Weiss instantly snapped her eyes open at that, swiveling her head to the side to look at Yang, then Blake before the three of them rushed into the room. Sure enough, Ruby was sitting up and looking around, looking utterly confused as she looked at all the cords and tubes surrounding her. She let out a short growl before pulling out the small tube that had been supplying oxygen, then looked up at the other three, narrowing her eyes a bit. Then she shook her head before she spoke up in a rather deep and aggravated tone of voice.

"Where... am I...?"

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**There's chapter 2! Hope you guys like it, and if you do, please let me know what you think by leaving me a review! Like I said, I really hope that this continues to do well, and thanks for checking it out.**


	3. Breaking A Winchester

**Author's Note: **This chapter is one that I feel needs a bit of a warning. This chapter will have a bit of bullying in it, as well as some graphic violence and character death. I know I don't normally have this kind of stuff in my writing, but since it's here, I want to let everyone know ahead of time. If these things upset you, or anything like that, I recommend skipping the second half of the chapter or even the whole thing entirely.

With that being said, if you are going to read it, please enjoy.

* * *

"Where... am I..?" Ruby growled as she looked between the other three people in the room, her voice sounding angry.

Yang raised her hands in a placative gesture as she carefully took a couple of steps closer towards the hospital bed that Ruby was sitting on. "Ruby, calm down, you're fine; you're in the hospital..." She paused as she lightly chewed on her lip, unsure of what she should say at the moment. "How... how are you feeling? Do you remember anything?"

'Ruby' sat in silence as she processed everything, her eyes studying the others with an inhuman sense of scrutiny. _Ruby... that was the name of this human._ The Emulator glanced down at one of its arms, where an IV had been put in, and growled before yanking it out. The blood transfusion that had been administered was making it difficult to maintain its current appearance, and it was not about to let itself be discovered, especially when it knew that the three humans in the room were more than capable of killing it with ease. Finally after a few moments of thinking about how it should react to the question, it shook its head.

"What... Who are you?"

Weiss crossed her arms from behind Yang and let out a disheartened sigh, to which Yang responded by lightly scratching the back of her head. "Well... I'm your sister- well, technically half-sister, Yang. And this is Blake and Weiss," Yang gestured to the others as she said their names, then took another couple of steps forward. "We're your teammates, Ruby. How are you feeling..?"

"I feel fine..." 'Ruby' looked at Weiss and stared at her for several long seconds; the Emulator recognizing her from the warehouse; making a mental note about the fact that Blake was a Faunus, it made sure to be extra careful so as not to reveal itself to the raven-haired girl. "I... I don't want to stay."

Yang widened her eyes at that and quickly nodded her head before she let a small smile form on her face. "Right, I'll go get the doctor so they know you're awake. Just wait here," The blonde quickly spun around and looked to the others with a grin before she yanked Blake out of the room with her, leaving Weiss alone with Ruby. The two of them stayed silent for several minutes before Ruby cocked her head to the side as she looked Weiss over, a slight grin forming on her face as she crossed her arms and tapped her fingers on her elbow, something that Weiss quickly noticed.

"What? What are you looking at me like that for...? Is everything okay, Ruby?" Weiss asked with a concerned look on her face.

Ruby let out a low, chuckle as she shook her head, and Weiss could've sworn she saw her eyes change color for a split-second, but after rubbing her eyes, Ruby's eyes were normal. Attributing the strange occurrence to her lack of sleep, Weiss simply ignored it and shook her head.

"Everything's fine Weiss... promise."

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**~Beacon Academy, Team RWBY Dorm, Early The Next Morning~**

The earliest rays of sunshine crept through the curtains of Team RWBY's dorm room, bathing the room in an almost fiery glow as most of the team slept soundly, save for their leader. Ruby was sitting up on her bunk bed, looking down around the room, watching the others sleep in silence for a while before carefully slipping off of the bed and onto the floor. Taking a second to brush several strands of hair out of its eyes, the Emulator Ruby let out a short sigh before wandering towards the bathroom and staring at itself in the mirror where after a few seconds it let out a small growl and quickly looked away.

_This is ridiculous... I need to get out of here._

One of its hands gripped at the red hairbrush that sat on a small shelf nearby and narrowed its eyes as it pulled several strands of red-tipped hair off with a small chuckle. After a moment, it smirked and pocketed the few strands of hair for later.

"No. I need to kill..."

**00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

Cardin Winchester smirked to the other members of his team as the four of them took turns teasing any Faunus students that passed them in the cafeteria; the four members of team CRDL all congregated at one end of one of the long dining tables within Beacon's cafeteria. The four boys had been at it for almost an hour, and every time a teacher would walk by, they would act as if nothing was going on; making it difficult for them to be caught...

Russel let out a short yawn as he leaned with his back to the table, then blinked several times as he noticed that Velvet Scarlatina was approaching, her head hung as she fiddled with her camera. The boy sat up straighter and nudged Cardin in the side with his elbow then jerked his head in the direction of the Faunus girl.

"Hey, check it out... It's the little bunny." Russel said with a grin.

Cardin spun around to watch Velvet as she walked towards them, and sneered as he folded his hands behind his head, leaning back against the table and kicking a leg out to trip Velvet. Unfortunately, Velvet didn't look up from her camera as she kept walking towards the outstretched foot, inevitably bumping into it with her feet and tumbling to the floor. Her camera flew from her hands and skidded across the floor for several feet, only to be stopped as Russel stuck his own foot out to stop it. The boy hopped to his feet and grabbed the camera as Cardin pulled his foot back, laughing at Velvet as she reached for her camera.

"Please stop... just give it back you guys." She pleaded quietly.

Cardin raised an eyebrow as he took the camera from Russel, his laughter dying down to a chuckle as he began perusing the many photographs that had been taken. "Aw, come on... we just want to look at the pretty pictures." Cardin teased. The majority of the photos were of other students and their weapons, with a few of them being of regular everyday things found around campus. After finding one of Coco, Velvet's Team Leader, Cardin went wide-eyed and showed it off to the other members of his team.

"Get a load of this, our little photographer here got a good one..." He sneered before haphazardly dropping the camera onto the floor in front of Velvet.

Velvet scrambled to retake the camera and held it close to her chest as the four laughed at her, then with tears in her eyes, she climbed to her feet and ran back the way she had come, tears streaming down her face. Cardin, having gotten a good laugh walked past the other three and sat down with a satisfied sigh as he relaxed and leaned against the table again.

It was at this point that Russel, Sky, and Dove all three heard a yelp from behind them, making their laughter cease almost instantly as they all looked between them, then to where Cardin was sitting... Only when they turned around, the leader of Team CRDL was gone, having completely vanished.

"Uh... guys? Where's Cardin?" Russel asked nervously.

Sky and Dove shook their heads simultaneously and shrugged. "Uh... I dunno" Sky said with an utterly confused expression on his face.

Meanwhile, Cardin soon found himself being thrown into a utility closet by someone whose strength was well above his own, and as he stumbled into the small room he collided into a cabinet with cleaning supplies strewn across the shelves, knocking several things to the floor as he shook his head and looked up at who had entered behind him. He was expecting maybe Yatsuhashi, or even Coco from Team CFVY. What he did not expect in his wildest imagination was Ruby Rose.

Ruby locked the door behind her, then spun on her heels, facing the taller boy with a sinister looking grin on her face. Her hands moved behind her back and laced together as she stared at Cardin for several long seconds, saying nothing, just staring in silence.

"Oh come on... You've got to be kidding me. What's your problem, huh? You upset because we were bullying Velvet again?" Cardin asked as he stood up straighter, brushing his arms off with an angry look on his face.

Ruby said nothing, only shaking her head a couple of times before she wandered to one side of the small room, looking at several bottles and other supplies for the school.

"Okay... Whatever, I'm leaving... this is stupid, I'm not sticking around in this cramped, dirty closet while you play The Quiet Game, Red."

As Cardin shook his head and started towards the door, he stopped as Ruby finally spoke to him, though her voice sounded... wrong. She sounded like she had a sore throat, her voice raspy and in a much deeper tone than it should've been.

"**What's your favorite color, Cardin?**"

The young man blinked several times before turning to look over his shoulder at the younger girl, his eyebrow raised in confusion. She was facing the wall, her hands still laced together behind her back, though now he noticed that her fingers and most of the palms of her hands were pitch black in color, with her nails being slightly elongated and deathly white. Despite this, he crossed his arms and grumbled before answering.

"What? Uh... black..? Why the hell do you want to know?"

Ruby turned around, and the look that she gave Cardin made his blood go cold. Her eyes were wide, a blood-curdling sinister smile on her face as she hummed softly and took a few steps closer. Her hands came forward and she examined the back of her hand, now covered in what looked like bone that reached up past her wrist and into her sleeve.

"**Black..? Hm, I would've thought it'd be something more colorful.**"

The taller boy looked at Ruby with a slight look of fear on his face, extremely concerned about the girl, despite the fact that he didn't really care about anything other than himself, this was scaring him. Ruby smirked for a moment before she looked at the back of her hand again, examining her nails, her claws, closely before she looked Cardin in the eyes, her own changing from silver to a deep glowing red.

"**You want to know what mine is..?**"

Cardin swallowed a lump that had formed in the back of his throat, then moved to back away from the monstrous-looking girl. He brought his hands up and balled them into fists with an angry expression on his face, then answered, his voice trying to sound as calm and brave as he could. "Wh-What is it..?"

Cardin heard a short chuckle before Ruby seemed to disappear for a moment, in the blink of an eye darting behind him and grabbing his shoulder from behind, the hand that had grabbed him having a large claw protruding from the back of it that was at least 6 inches long and looked as if it could punch through steel. The fingers rapped a couple of times as Cardin felt a cold breath on his neck, and as he held still and hoped to not be harmed, he heard the voice again, now devoid of any hint of the girl's voice.

"**Red...**"

The leader of Team CRDL froze and went wide-eyed as he felt something tough the middle of his back, his breath catching in his throat for a moment before he felt that thing leave his back. He let out a sigh of relief and closed his eyes, hanging his head a bit; at least until there was an intense pain in his back that seemed to rip through him. He let out a pain yell as his eyes shot open once more, and as he struggled to keep from crying from the pain, he realized that another of those claws was now poking through his chest, covered in blood... his blood. He coughed a couple of times and moved his hands to hover above the wound in his chest, his breathing erratic and labored, and as the claw was ripped out of him, he whimpered briefly before collapsing to the floor.

"**Hmm... I just love the taste of an Aura. Each one is so... unique.**" 'Ruby' let out a short laugh as she walked in front of Cardin, bending down so that her face was in his field of view. Her face wasn't that of Ruby Rose anymore, instead it was one of a monster. And as she stood in front of him, she licked the blood off of the claw on her hand. "**Oh, what a shame... Looks like Beacon's number one bully just got caught?**"

Cardin could only let out a fearful whimper as he laid on the floor, his hands clutching the gaping hole in his chest. He let out a short groan as he reached out to grab Ruby's ankle, but before his hand could make contact, she raised her foot and laughed before stomping her foot down on his head.

As Cardin stopped moving, Ruby smirked and morphed her appearance back to look like the leader of Team RWBY, and before she turned to leave, she yanked a few hairs off of his head, pocketing them for later use.

"See you around Cardin... Or maybe not."


End file.
